3) ORGANIZATION RECOGNIZING THE SALES ACHIEVEMENT. MOST COLLECTORS IN THE UNITED STATES PREFER AWARDS CERTIFIED SY THE RECORD INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, OR RIAA, THE MEMBERSHIP OF WHICH INCLUDES MOST, BUT NOT ALL, OF THE MAJOR LABELS IN THE COUNTRY. FORMED IN 1952 AS A TRADE ORGANIZATION REPRESENTING THE INTERESTS OF THE COUNTRY'S MAJOR RECORD MANUFACTURERS, THE ORGANIZATION INTRODUCED ITS "OFFICIAL" GOLD RECORD AWARD IN JANUARY 1958 PRIMARILY TO STANDARDIZE THE RECOGNITION OF SALES. RECORD COMPANIES COULD. AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE. OPEN THEIR BOOKS TO AN INDEPENDENT AUDITOR WHO WOULD THEN VERIFY THE SALES FIGURES AND AUTHENTICATE THE AWARD LATER PRESENTED. OFTEN WITH SOME DEGREE OF FORMALITY, BY THE RIAA TO THE ARTIST AND THE COMPANY. OF COURSE, COMPANIES DID NOT HAVE TO JOIN NOR OPEN THEIR BOOKS; SUBSEQUENTLY, MANY MAJOR SELLERS HAVE NEVER BEEN CERTIFIED AS GOLD RECORDS, NOTABLY THE MOTOWN HITS OF THE '60S.

4) RIAA AWARD DESIGNATION. QUALIFICATION FOR RIAA AWARDS HAVE VARIED OVER THE YEARS. THE ORIGINAL STANDARDS WERE BASED ON ONE MILLION AS GOLD: 1,000.000 COPIES OF A SINGLE AND $1,000,000 AT THE MANUFACTURER'S WHOLESALE PRICE FOR AN ALBUM. WHICH GENERALLY MEANT AT LEAST 500,000 COPIES. EXTENDED PLAY ALBUMS (EPS), WHICH GENERALLY CONSISTED OF TWO TRACKS PER SIDE, REQUIRED HALF OF A SINGLE'S SALES, 500,000 UNITS, TO QUALIFY.
IN 1970 THE SALES OF TAPES WERE INCLUDED IN THE TALLIES FOR AN ALBUM'S CERTIFICATION. WHILE THE SALES OF REEL-TO-REELS WERE NEGLIGIBLE, THE INCLUSION OF THE THEN POPULAR EIGHT-TRACKS HAD A NOTICEABLE AFFECT ON SALES LEVELS, SIMILAR TO WHAT WOULD FOLLOW WHEN THE CASSETTE WAS INTRODUCED AS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD YEARS LATER. THE CHART BELOW ILLUSTRATES THE OTHER CHANGES:

5) AWARD FORMAT. OVER THE YEARS THE RIAA HAS VARIED THE FORMATS, OR STYLE, IN WHICH THE AWARD IS PRESENTED. THROUGH 1989, THE RIAA KEPT VERY LITTLE CONTROL OVER THE SPECIFICATIONS THAT WERE USED TO CONSTRUCT EACH AWARD. THESE EXAMPLES SHOULD BE HELPFUL IN IDENTIFYING THE DIFFERENT FORMATS AS THE RIAA USED OVER 75 DIFFERENT FRAME COMPANIES, ALONG WITH THE RESPECTIVE RECORDING LABELS THAT FRAMED THEIR OWN UNDER THE LICENSE OF THE RIAA.

A. WHITE MA TTE (1964 - 1975). MANUFACTURED WITH LITTLE GUIDELINES.
THE PLAQUE WAS AN OFF-WHITE LINEN MATERIAL IN AN UNPAINTED, FINISHED WOOD FRAME. THIS LINEN MATERIAL WILL OFTEN TURN A REDDISH-BROWN WITH AGE. THE DEDICATION ON THE PLATE WAS ENGRAVED WITH THE RIAA SEAL USUALLY SILK SCREENED IN. IN THE CASE OF LPS, THE MINI-COVER WAS MOUNTED SEPARATELY FROM THE PLATE. BECAUSE OF THEIR UNIQUE LOOKS AND THE DIFFICULTY IN COUNTERFEITING THEM, WHITE MATTE AWARDS ARE THE MOST DESIRABLE AND COLLECTIBLE STYLE (AS RECENT SALES TRENDS AND AUCTION RESULTS BEAR OUT). THERE ARE NO WHITE MATTE AWARDS FROM KISS!

B. FLOATER (1975 - 1981). THE AWARD'S BACKGROUND WAS DARK, USUALLY BLACK, SOMETIMES ANOTHER COLOR IF CUSTOM ORDERED, WITH A "FOOTBALL" LIKE PEBBLE GRAINED MAT ENCLOSED IN A WOOD FRAME PAINTED EITHER GOLD, BLACK, BLUE, GOLD ON BLACK, RED ON GOLD OR WHITE. THE DISC AND PLACE APPEAR TO BE "FLOATING" BETWEEN THE BACKGROUND AND THE GLASS. IN THE CASE OF LPS, THE MINI-COVER (ALSO FLOATING) WAS MOUNTED SEPARATELY FROM THE PLATE.
THE PLATE IS EITHER SILK SCREENED OR EXPRESS PRINTED AND SOMETIMES ENGRAVED, DEPENDING ON THE MANUFACTURE. THE PRESENTATION DISC COULD BE EITHER METAL OR VINYL. THIS FORMAT WAS MANUFACTURED BY OVER 60 COMPANIES AND HELD THE LEAST AMOUNT OF CONTROL DUE TO THE POPULARITY OF MUSIC IN THIS TIME. DUE TO THE GROWING POPULARITY OF THIS TYPE AWARD, ARTISTS AND RECORD COMPANIES HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO ORDER UP MULTIPLE COPIES TO PRESENT TO EVERYONE FROM THE ARTIST THEMSELVES TO THE ROAD CREW TO THE PHONE SECRETARY. TO SAVE CONSTRUCTION COSTS THE ORDERER WOULD ORDER UP MULTIPLES UNDER THE COMPANY OR BANDS NAME SOMETIMES IN LOTS OF 100.

C. STRIP-PLATE (1982 - 2/1985). THE AWARD'S BACKGROUND WAS DARK, SOMETIMES DOUBLE OR EVEN TRIPLE MATTED. UNLIKE PREVIOUS AWARDS, FOR LPS THE PLATE CONTAINING THE DEDICATION AND THE MINI-COVER APPEARED ON THE SAME STRIP OF METAL. SOME HAVE ENGRAVING SOME DO NOT. SOME WERE EXPRESS PRINTED SOME WERE SILK SCREENED. THIS WAS ALSO THE FIRST FORMAT TO MAYBE BUT NOT ALWAYS INCLUDE A GOLD OR SILVER PLATED CASSETTE, ACKNOWLEDGING THE EVER INCREASING CONTRIBUTION OF THE TAPES TO UNIT SALES. THESE CASSETTES WERE LOCATED EITHER DIRECTLY BENEATH THE ALBUM DISC OR RESTING ATOP THE LOWER LP LIP. THE FRAME STYLE ON THIS ARE USUALLY BLACK FORMICA
BUT COULD VARY UPON THE ORDER. QUITE A FEW RECORD COMPANIES ORDERED THE PLAQUES IN BULK AND HAD THE FRAMES BUILT ELSEWHERE TO FIT THEIR DECOR OR PERSONAL TASTE. THERE IS NO SET GUIDELINE FOR THIS PARTICULAR FORMAT.

D. RIAA HOLOGRAM (3/1985 - 1989). THE AWARD'S BACKGROUND IS DARK. IN THE CASE OF LPS, THE DEDICATION AND THE MINI-COVER APPEAR ON THE SAME STRIP OF METAL OR PLASTIC. THE RIAA LOGO ON THE PLATE IS IN A RAINBOW-LIKE HOLOGRAM NOW TO AVOID UNAUTHORIZED DUPLICATION. MOST, IF NOT ALL, OF THESE AWARDS HAVE A GOLD OR SILVER PLATED CASSETTE'S TOP SHELL BENEATH THE ALBUM DISC OR RESTING ATOP THE LOWER LP LIP. SOME INCLUDE A GOLD OR SILVER PLATED COMPACT DISC. ALL HAVE A BLACK FORMICA FRAME AT THE TIME OF ISSUE BUT COULD BE CHANGED AT THE ORDERERS REQUEST.

E. "R" HOLOGRAM (1990 - 1997). FOR THIS FORMAT THE TRADITIONAL RIAA LOGO WAS REPLACED WITH A LARGE "R" IN A HOLOGRAM PATTERN. ALL SIZE AND STYLE RESTRICTIONS WERE RELAXED, GIVING THE RECORD COMPANIES MORE FREEDOM IN CHOOSING A DESIGN FOR A PARTICULAR AWARD. THUS ONE CAN SEE A MULTITUDE OF STYLES DURING THESE YEARS WITH ONLY THE "R"-HOLOGRAM LOGO REMAINING CONSTANT. (BOTH THE HOLOGRAM AND THE "R"-HOLOGRAM AWARD CAN BE FOUND IN A NEW "FORMAT," THE COMPACT DISC AWARD. THESE FEATURE EITHER A GOLD OR SILVER PLATED COMPACT DISC WITH THE DEDICATION PLATE WITH OR WITHOUT THE PICTURE FROM THE CD'S JEWEL BOX.)

F. NUMBERED NEW STYLE HOLOGRAM (1997 - PRESENT). IN 1997, THE RIAA® DEVELOPED A NEW HOLOGRAM TO COMBAT THE INCREASING NUMBER OF COUNTERFEIT AWARDS. THESE SECURITY-ENHONCED SEALS FEATURE SEQUENTIAL NUMBERING AND ARE EMBEDDED WITH COVERT ANTI-COUNTERFEITING INFORMATION.

6. RECIPIENT. PRESENTATION HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT IN THE LAST FEW YEARS ... AND WITH GOOD REASON. THE MORE CLOSELY IDENTIFIABLE AN AWARD IS WITH THE ARTIST, THE MORE DESIRABLE THE AWARD. IN DESCENDING ORDER, THE DESIRABILITY OF AN AWARD BASED ON THE RECIPIENT IS
A) THE ARTIST WHO RECORDED THE RECORD,
B) THE RECORD COMPANY WHO RELEASED THE RECORD,
C) EITHER AN INDIVIDUAL OR ORGANIZATION CLOSELY CONNECTED WITH THE PRODUCTION OF THE RECORD, SUCH AS ANYONE LISTED ON THE ALBUMS CREDITS,
D) THE PRODUCTION COMPANY,
E) A RADIO STATION, OR FINALLY,
F) A RECORD COMPANY EXECUTIVE OTHERWISE UNKNOWN IN THE COLLECTING COMMUNITY.

7. CONDITION. THE CONDITION OF THE AWARD IS VITAL: EVERYBODY WANTS EVERYTHING MINT AND AWARD COLLECTORS ARE NO EXCEPTION. WHITE MATTE COLLECTORS ARE PARTICULARLY FUSSY, SOMETIMES WANTING ONLY ITEMS THAT HAVE NEVER BEEN REPAIRED, EVEN IF THE MATTE IS YELLOWING.

WHEN BUYING ANY AWARD BE SURE THE AWARD IS THE ORIGINAL FORMAT (I.E., THE STYLE OF THE AWARD OFFERED FOR SALE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE STYLE OF THE PERIOD IN WHICH IT WAS PRESENTED). THE ORIGINAL FORMAT CONTAINING THE ORIGINAL LABEL OF THE RECORD BEING CERTIFIED WILL USUALLY BE THE MOST COLLECTIBLE. ANOTHER POINT TO REMEMBER IS THAT RECORD COMPANIES HAVE BEEN KNOWN TO RE- FRAME AWARDS IN A STYLE OTHER THAN THE PREVAILING FORMAT. THIS WAS OFTEN DONE TO REPLACE DAMAGED FRAMES OR THE REQUISITE FRAME WAS UNAVAILABLE AT THE TIME, OR THEY HAD A CERTAIN DECOR IN THEIR LOBBY OR OFFICE. BEFORE 1989, WHEN FORMATS WERE UNDER NO STRICT CONTROL, THIS PRACTICE WAS MET WITH FAVOR BY THE RIAA .
FINALLY, WHEN PURCHASING AN AWARD, COMPARE PRICES WHICH MAY VARY WIDELY. CONSIDER ALL THE FACTORS MENTIONED ABOVE. CURRENTLY, AWARDS SELL FOR AS LITTLE AS $10 TO AS MUCH AS $20,000.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THE RIAA IS A AUDITING FIRM ONLY AND HAS NO RECORD (EXCEPT IN THE GOLD AND PLATINUM DATABASE BOOK AVAILABLE FOR $250.00 A YEAR TO LICENSED FRAMERS) OF WHO WAS PRESENTED A CERTAIN AWARD, WHO ORDERED A CERTAIN AWARD. THE STYLE USED OR THE COMPANIES THAT EITHER ORDERED OR MANUFACTURED THE SAID PIECE. WE JUST CERTIFY THE SALES AND ISSUE THE PAPERWORK BACK TO THE RECORD COMPANIES. CALLS TO THE RIAA ARE DISCOURAGED AT ALL LEVELS. THEY ARE AN AUDITING FIRM FOR MANY CORPORATIONS, NOT A COLLECTORS HOTLINE.
 

R.I.A.A. Awards

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